In a known vehicle roof described in German Patent No. 578,111, intended for recreational vehicles, several wind deflector plates are provided which, after opening a folding covering, can be adjusted not only in their slope but can also be freely slid lengthwise on upper longitudinal carriers of the side walls of the vehicle body. In doing so, the deflector plates can be set at any distance from one another as a function of the direction and strength of the wind. The wind deflector plates are then held in the respectively set positions in a way not shown in greater detail. To close the covering, first, obviously by hand, the wind deflector plates are shifted forward and are reversed so that they can be pushed underneath a stationary, front roof dome. Afterwards, the covering is brought forward out of its folded pushed-back position and closed. The handling of the known vehicle roof is disadvantageously complicated.
Other wind deflector arrangements are known having a wind deflector plate supported in the area of the front edge of a roof opening that can be closed by a cover, wherein the wind deflector is automatically adjusted between an operating position and a rest position as a function of the adjustment movement of the cover. One such device is described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 3,426,998, which discloses a wind deflector plate that is linked in the area of its upper edge, in a pushed-out position, to the front end of two push-out arms, that are further linked at their rear ends to lateral portions of a roof frame. In this case, the wind deflector plate is elastically prestressed relative to the push-out arms, and the push-out arms are further biased away from the roof frame toward the operating position. The wind deflector plate carries, on the exposed edge facing away from the push-out arms, a cam that rides on a cam track fixedly positioned with the roof. As the cover is brought into its closed position, the push-out arms are pivoted so that the push-out arms tip the wind deflector plate rearward and at least partially push it forward below a part of the stationary roof surface that borders the front edge of the roof opening. At the same time, the cam slides along the cam track.
In yet another known wind deflector described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 3,539,987, a wind deflector plate is provided that is S-shaped in cross section and is elastically prestressed into a pushed-out position. Moreover, the wind deflector is mounted to pivot around an axis that is fixed in position with the roof wherein the axis is placed in front of the roof opening and below the stationary roof panel. A connecting rod is linked to the wind deflector plate that interacts with a catch on a front cover bearing so as to rotate the wind deflector plate around its fixed axis into the position when the cover approaches its closed position.
It is also known for a sliding roof, as disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,505,736, to pivotally link a wind deflector plate to a mounting that is further pivotally connected about a fixed axis lying in front of the front edge of the roof opening, wherein the mounting is flexibly connected to pivoted levers. These pivoted levers are also mounted to pivot about torsionally rigid axes, and they interact with sliding blocks on the sliding cover to lower the pivoting axis that connects the wind deflector plate to the mounting and that is located near the front edge of the roof opening when the cover moves into its closed position. Here, a sealing bead sitting on the cover front edge strikes the wind deflector plate and pivots the latter against spring tension with respect to the lowered mounting until the wind deflector plate disappears below the stationary roof surface.
These known wind deflector arrangements are commonly related in that their application is limited to certain specific roof types, such as sliding roofs, sliding-lifting roofs and spoiler roofs. In particular, these known wind deflector arrangements are not suited for ventilation roofs. See as an example of a ventilation roof, allowed commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 320,549, filed Mar. 8, 1989. Such ventilation roofs include a cover whose front edge can be lowered by swinging the cover from a closed position into a ventilation position in which a ventilation gap is formed between the cover front edge and the front edge of the roof opening that can be closed by the cover. The above noted wind deflectors are not applicable to such a situation because, in such a case, the wind deflector would block or at least greatly impede the entry of air through the ventilation gap.